Dress-supporting form



April 1961 L. M. LENNEMANN DRESS-SUPPORTING FORM Filed Sept. 29, 1959 FIG./

FIG.3

FIG-4 INVENTOR. LEONA M. LENNEMANN A TTORNE Y5 porting form;

fla 2,980,916

Patented Apr. 25, 1961 DRESS-SUPPORTING FORM Leona M. ,Le'nnemann, 2115 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.,

Washington, D.C.

Filed Sept. 29, 1959, Ser. No. 843,202

3 Claims. (Cl. 2-215) The present invention relates to a dress-supporting form in the nature of a bustle, and particularly to such a form to be worn by pregnant women to cause their outside Heretofore, in the latter stages of pregnancy, expectant V mothers have worn loose waists or othergarments which hang from the breasts and bridge the hollow portion of the womans body, that is, the space between the breasts and the fullness caused by the fetus she is carrying. Such maternity clothes camouflage to a considerable extent the expectant mothers actual shape.

The present invention contemplates a dress-supporting form which may be secured about the expectant mothers body in the, hollow space between the breasts and the fullness caused by the fetus and which will hold the outer garments in line with the upper portion of her body, usually the breasts, and the lower portion of her abdomen. The dress-supporting form in its preferred form comprises a band or strip of relatively stiff material, such as nylon net, which is gathered or, pleated on a center string or tape which is secured about the body in the hollow space referred to above. I When the string is pulled fairly tightly about the body, the resiliency of the body enables the string to form a crease therein and in the underlying garments, with the body and underlying garments bulging at each side of the crease line. This.forces the portions of the band above and below the string outwardly so that they form an effective dress-supporting form to hold pearance and the embarrassment of the expectant mother islessened. 7

The invention will be further described in connection In the drawing: 'Fig. l is an elevational view of the present dress-sup- Fig. 2 is a'view'taken transversely of Fig. 1 and showing the position which the dress-supporting form assumes 'when it is secured about a womans body; I

Fig. 3 is'a viewsimilar to Fig, 1 showing a supplewith the accompanying drawing which illustrates a pre- I ferred form of the dress-supporting form.

. mental dressrsupporting section which maybe attached to thecenter string whenthe fullness caused by -the growth 7 'of the. fetus increases'andit is desired to have the dresssupp'orting form effective around a greater portion of the expectant mothers body; and a v Figfi'4 is'a yiew showing the dress-supporting form -se-.

2 cured about the body of an expectant mother and how it is effective to hold the portion of the outer garment opposite the hollow portion of her body in alignment with the upper and lower portions of the body.

Referring to the drawing, the dress-supporting form comprises a band orstrip 1 of flexible, though relatively stiff material. It is shown as nylon net, but any other material having the necessary flexibility and stiffness to make it stand firmly away from the expectant mothers body, such as tulle, crinoline, plastic material, or the like, may be used, if desired. The band 1 is pleated or gathered on a center string or tape 2. While the string or tape 2 may be non-elastic, it is preferred that it be formed of a tape of nylon tricot or other material having some elasticity, since the elasticity of the string makes the dresssupporting form more comfortable to wear.

The band 1 may be of any suitable length and width, but a length of twelve to fifteen inches and a width of three to four inches. will be found satisfactory in most instances. a If desired, .the dress-supporting form may be made with bands of different lengths and widths'for, use during; different stages of'the pregnancy, with bands of greater length and greater width being used during the latter stages of. the pregnancy.

If a band having a width of, for example, four inches were used, when the dress-supporting form is secured about the body it will protrude outwardly from the body a distance of two inches both above and below the center string. When the dress-supporting form is to be used, it is passed around the waist section of the expectant mother, and the ends of the center string are tied together. The center string is pulled sufiiciently tight that it forms a crease in the undergarments and in the wearers body. The outward force exerted by the portions of the undergarments and the body above and below the crease line causes the upper and lower portions of the band to protrude outwardly from the body, as shown in Fig. 4, to form a firm support to hold the portion of the outer garmerit opposite the dress-supporting form away from the body and substantially in line with the outer portions of the breasts and the fullness caused by the fetus having dropped to the lower portion of the expectant mothers abdomen.

As the fetus grows and the fullness becomes greater, it is desirable to have the dress-supporting form band extend around a greater portion of the expectant mothers body. In order that it shall not be necessary to discard the dresssupporting form worn in earlier stages of. the pregnancy and to obtain a dress-supporting form having a longer band, a supplemental band is provided which may be secured to the center string in end-to-end position with respect to the band 1. Such a supplemental band is shown in Fig. 3 where the band 1' and center string 2' are the same as the band and center string 2 of Fig. 2, except that the center string does not extend beyond the end of the band 2. At each end of the band 1, opposite the ends of the center string 2', a loop 3 is provided. When it is desired to increase the effective length of the band 1 of Fig. 1, one end section of the center stringZis passed through the loops 3 of the supplemental band 1" and the supplemental band positioned on the center string in endto-end relation to the band 1. This increases the effective length of the dress-supporting form and will cause a.

If it is, desired to still further increase the effective 7 length of the band 1 as the fullnessincreases, a supplemental band may be strung onto each end section of the center string. I 7 v r Insteadof providing the supplemental band with end' loops, like the loops 3, i-t;may be provided witha casing opposite the center string 2 through which an end section of the center string 2 may be passed to secure a supplemental band thereto.

While the dress-supporting 'form band has beenshown as having the securing string secured to the longitudinal center thereof so that both the upper and lower portions of the band will protrude outwardly to. form a firm'support for the outer garmentpit is to be understood that, if desired, the band could be narrower and the string secured to one edge thereof. However, in most instances theuse of a Wider band and the attachment of the securing string to the longitudinal center is preferred since it provides two outwardly-protruding sections which will give a firmer support to the outer garment. 4

From the foregoing'it will be apparent that the dresssupporting form of the present invention provides an effective means for holding the portion of theouter garment opposite the hollow space of the expectant mothers body in line with the upper and lower portions of her body without any noticeable Weight being placed on her body. Also, the dress-supporting form causes the outer garment to be held so that it presents a more attractive and graceful appearance and thereby makes the expectant mothers body appear more straight up and down. 'This makes the expectant mother less conscious-of herappearance and makes the trying months of her pregnancy more endurable than otherwise would be the case.

comprising a pleated band of flexible material having sufiicient stiifness to hold outer garments away from the wearers body, and a relatively narrow attaching member secured to the longitudinal midsection of said band and maintaining it in its pleated state,'said attaching band having end portions extending beyond the ends of the band to be passed about a wearer's body to secure the band thereto, said band,fwhen secured relatively tightly against a wearers' body, having the portions thereof at Various changes may be made in the details of con-- struction of the dress-supporting form without sacrificing any of the advantages thereof or departing from the scope each side of said securing member diverging outwardly from said securing member in a generally V-shaped formation. i

2. A dress-supporting form as defined in claim 1, in which the band is nylon net.

3. A dress-supporting form as defined in claim 1 in which said pleated band is of a length sufiicient to extend across the central portion of a wearers body, and which includes a second pleated band, similar to said first mentioned band, said second hand having loops, the attaching member passing through said loops and maintaining said second hand in end-to-end relation with said first band.

- References Cited in the file of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS White' Dec. 15, 1959 

